[Sca-cooks] OT: Weather in Oertha

[Sharron Albert]

Ysabeau said:
>I lived there [Alaska] for two winters (school years)...once in elementary
>and once in high school. I actually got my driver's license in
>Alaska, but I still don't drive on ice days down here. The thing
>Alaska taught me was to respect the weather.
>
>Fairbanks seems like it would be like living in Lubbock. My main
>memory of Fairbanks was actually wearing shorts in the summer (we
>were visiting) because the temp was about 95 degrees. It is wide
>open plains with extremes in temperatures. I also remember it
>being very dusty. But then, these are memories of a 10 year old
>who is now 40.

Too true. Of course, on a clear day you can see Denali to the south 
(that's Mt. McKinley to the rest of you). And horizon to horizon 
aurora borealis. I don't know whether I prefer -45F (tonight's 
expected low) or +95. I hate heat, my body hates it. I'm like a 
lizard, panting in the shade. We're a little less dusty: more paved 
roads.

>I also discovered, my junior year in high school, that it is
>necessary to make sure your hair is dry before going to catch the
>bus. I ran my fingers through my hair...and the ends broke off
>because they froze. Talk about culture shock...I'd just moved
>there from Singapore...the equator to sub arctic in less than
>month!

My first winter in Fairbanks was at college 1964-1965, which still 
has some of the record lows I believe. I'd have gym, followed by a 
5-10 minute walk back to the dorms. After showering we'd put our hair 
in rollers (the early 60s, remember) and then have to wait until it 
thawed before taking them out. Or the hair would break. We had 
several weeks in January IIRC when it never got above -35F, sort of 
like the inversion we're having now. And you can't run in that kind 
of weather: bad to pull the air into the lungs so hard.

Morgana, still freezing, with no end in sight through the weekend at least..
-- 

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Morgana yr Oerfa, OP
Winter's Gate/Oertha/West
Per saltire gules and sable, in pale two mullets and
in fess an increscent	 and a decrescent argent.